MANAGUA, Nicaragua, September 3, 2026.- The United States’ blocking proved decisive in stopping the Dominican Republic and keeping its unbeaten run alive with a 3-1 (21-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-23) victory to open the third day of action at the 2026 NORCECA U23 Women’s Pan American Cup.
The United States held a commanding 18-8 advantage in blocks, while also leading the Dominican Republic in attacks 51-37 and serves 8-3. The Americans benefited from 19 opponent errors while conceding 45 points through their own errors.
The Dominican Republic (2-1) took the opening set behind a strong performance from Yalyn Filpo, who led its offense with six points. USA (3-0) responded in the second set, increasing its pressure at the net and relying on its blocking to complete the comeback and remain undefeated.
Kendall Omoruyi and Tessa Larkin led the U.S. offense with 21 points apiece, while Megan Hodges added 13 and led all players with five blocks. For the Dominican Republic, Filpo finished with 12 points, while Katielle Alonzo and Alondra Tapia contributed 11 each.
Setter Sophee Peterson also played a key role, distributing the offense across different areas of the net and giving the United States a balanced attack that made it difficult for the Dominican Republic to organize its blocking.
On Friday, the United States will face Nicaragua at 7:00 p.m., while the Dominican Republic will take on Canada at 3:00 p.m., in the penultimate day of the preliminary round.
Alexandra Dunphy, head coach of the United States: “We’re very happy. The Dominican Republic is a very good team with two or three very strong players, so this is a great win for the United States. We have a very young team here, with many players who can still compete in this age group for another four or five years, and they’re very excited to challenge the strong teams in this tournament.”
Tessa Larkin, United States top scorer: “It feels so good to get a win. To come into this tournament and already be 3-0 is crazy, especially getting to play internationally. I think it was a great team win and we’re having a lot of fun. Omoruyi also played really well. We used to play club volleyball together, so it’s really fun to play together again. She’s an amazing, very well-rounded player, and she’s doing great.”
Wagner Pacheco, head coach of the Dominican Republic: “There’s a big difference because, in the end, they’re a big team and we had to attack against two tall blockers all the time, and that’s not easy. But we tried. We played well, served well, passed well and attacked well. I think overall the team played and defended very well. We kept a lot of balls alive, but the United States’ blocking was the difference. They scored 18 points on blocks and we had eight; that was the difference.”
Selanny Puente, captain of the Dominican Republic: “We were expecting a really tough match like this, and I feel we played very well. We could have won the match, but we gave everything and couldn’t get it done. Now we move forward; we can still finish strong. They’re tall and have a great block, and those things happen. We’ll work hard for tomorrow’s match against Canada.”
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